Accepting Change
by psychoticphoenix
Summary: "We have all the time in the world, Rose. You and me." A promise in the past haunts Rose as she comes to terms with the appearance of the new Doctor. She hasn't quite wrapped her head around it, and she's not sure if she could bear the pain of losing her Doctor just yet to accept that this stranger in front of her was now the Doctor. She wasn't really letting go, right? 9xRose


**Author's Note: **Right then. Quite new to the fandom, and had just finished series one. Here's a little something for the members of my new fandom family. Do be kind to the newbie, and remember I haven't watched anything past the series one finale and the first few minutes of the Christmas special between series' one and two.

This also disregards the events of the Children In Need Special ("_Born_ _Again_") set exactly where this story is supposed to take place, so this is my version of what happens between series' one and two.

Here's a banana to show I come in peace. Bananas are good.

**Disclaimer: **Doctor Who is such a fantastic thing, I couldn't even dare to imagine where I would acquire such talent to even think of it, let alone own it.

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There was a man who stood right where the Doctor had just been, a man who wore his clothes, but Rose didn't even know who he was.

He had just finished musing about his new teeth and flying off to Barcelona (the planet, not the country) stating how it was going to be "fun" and Rose waited with baited breath because by force of habit and association she thinks she had probably just misheard and expected the syllables "tastic" to be right behind it. But they weren't. And then Rose couldn't stop the tears from pooling into her eyes and he stopped talking, eyes taking in her reaction. "What's wrong? Is there something wrong with my face? Do I have two heads?" he asked, alarmed.

Then his gaze softened in realization. "Rose." He called her name with such familiarity, but with such an unfamiliar voice. "Rose, it's me."

If she hadn't been so exhausted and in shock, Rose Tyler would have laughed at the absurdity of what was happening. It was like a rip-off from that Beauty and the Beast movie she'd watched as a child. Her Doctor was gone, engulfed in a blazing light and the next thing she knows she's staring into the brown - brown, not blue eyes of a man she's never seen before. He wore the Doctor's clothes, but it wasn't him. At least, Rose refused to believe that it was him. He was not her Doctor. Her Doctor had those funny ears of his that made him bristle in slight apprehension when the aliens and people they have encountered in their travels remarked about it, and he had blue eyes, soulful blue eyes. He had a slightly maniacal edge about on his person, like a suppressed sugar rush, which Rose realized over their time together was a huge cover-up for the sadness and loneliness he felt from being the last of the Time Lords.

This man who stood in his place had the same sorrow in his eyes, and a similar degree of bottled up enthusiasm threatening to burst at the seams, perhaps a glimpse of the manic smile which betrayed all sorrow deep inside, but it couldn't be him. "Who..." Rose had to gulp a huge amount of air to keep herself from sobbing, "Who are you?"

He smiled, but she could see the flash of hurt that passed through his face when she asked that. "It's me Rose, the Doctor. Well _the _Doctor to be exact." He rambled, trailing off once more when he saw the look on Rose's face.

She didn't want to accept it. But then, he had told her that, didn't he? Just before he left her.

_"It means I'm gonna change. And I'm not gonna see you again, not like this, not with this daft old face." _

He knew this was going to happen, he knew, and that was why he sounded so final, like... like he was never going to see her again. Like she was never going to see him again. But he had smiled that smile of his, called her fantastic, called himself fantastic, as if it was just like any other day.

Rose felt as if her heart was being torn apart inside her chest. "I didn't... I didn't even get to say goodbye." she whispered in an almost inaudible voice, the painful realization dawning.

The new Doctor frowned in contemplation. "What are you going about, Rose? It's still me, I'm still he-." and before he could even his sentence, collapsed on a heap on the floor.

A part of Rose wanted to run over to him and see if he was alright, because that part believed that her Doctor was in there somewhere, but a greater part of her held her back, screaming at her because this wasn't him. Not him... not him.

As the TARDIS spun wildly out of control, Rose didn't do anything but stare. Reeling from the shock of everything that's been happening, she recalled a snippet of a conversation she'd had with the Doctor, her Doctor, a few trips back. Before Jack had even joined them... and Jack, what of Jack? Rose fleetingly wondered, before her memory took a hold of her attention again.

_"We have all the time in the world, Rose Tyler." he exclaimed with such carefree joy that she had to laugh because his excitement was just too contagious. "All the time in the universe, in fact." he added, quite cheekily._

_Rose laughed again and took his hand in hers, just as he had with her countless times during their adventures. He's always been a little colder in temperature, but she'd gotten used to it, cherished it, in fact. It was one of the things that made him so familiar to her. "All the time, Doctor? You and me?" she asked with that tongue in teeth grin of hers._

_He glanced at her and smiled. "You and me." he nodded._

Except he wasn't with her anymore. And he's never coming back.

But he was still with her, in a way, she supposed.

TRose snapped out of her trance and shakily walked over to where the new Doctor lay crumpled, knelt beside him, and took his hand. Rose almost gasped at the familiar coolness emanating from it. It felt right, though not quite right at the same time. The TARDIS had begun to spin more and more turbulently then, and just as they were skidding to a stop in who knows when and where, his eyes opened and stared at her. A smile crossed his features before letting go of her hand and hobbling off to open the door. She heard him talking to her mother and Mickey, did he mention London? Was she home? Rose rushed after him and opened the door of the TARDIS just in time to see him collapse in the arms of her mother and Mickey.

"What happened? Is he alright?"

Worry crept into her voice. He was still the Doctor after all, and she was still his companion. He may not be the same man she had initially set off to have adventures with, may not be the face she'd… learned to love. But it was still him.

She vaguely heard Mickey ask where the Doctor was and Rose's face fell as she remembered the Doctor that they had known and their last moments together. His last smile, silently encouraging her to be strong for the both of them. Bidding her goodbye.

Trying hard not to think of it as the death of the Doctor, as he was obviously right in front of them, just with a different face, Rose forced herself to answer.

"That's him."

He wasn't gone. Not entirely, that is.

"Right in front of you."

He was still with her. In a way. She knew she'd learn to accept him in his new form, eventually. She loved him too much not to. And she had all the time in the world for that. Right now, she had to make sure he was alright. Beginning to accept him as the new Doctor was painful, because she felt like she was letting go of the one she'd known. Though she knew that wasn't the case. She was just welcoming his new form into her life… and heart. He wasn't going to be alone this time.

"That's the Doctor."

And she wasn't going to let him die on her twice.

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**Author's Note: **There we go. I had originally planned to write an angsty fic about Rose missing Nine despite being with Ten, but I told myself I could quite do that just yet, since I'm just about to see the dynamics between Ten and Rose. So instead I wrote this, as a sort of transition into accepting the arrival of Ten. Both for Rose, and for me as a fangirl, I suppose. Reviews are highly appreciated.


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